Austin filmmakers featured in PBS Online Film Festival

What are the two best things about the this year’s PBS Online Film Festival? First, you can stream all the nominated short films online for free from now until July 17. Second, at least two Austin-based filmmakers are among the 25 nominated for the festival’s “People’s Choice Award.”

Still from “Ex-Votos.” Photo from Ivete Lucas.

Born in Brazil, raised in Mexico and now based in Austin, Ivete Lucas ran a kickstarter in 2012 to help her fund her nominated film,”Ex-Votos.” The short film follows a pregnant teenager in Mexico fleeing her dangerous neighborhood with her mother to go on a pilgrimage to the festival of Saint Francis.

John Spottswood Moore’s film “Once Again” made its debut at the Austin International Film Festival in 2014 and has already won a number of awards, including the Barbara Jordan Media Award from the Texas Governor’s Office and the Excellence Award at Superfest: International Disability Film Festival. The short documentary follows the University of Texas MFA alumna’s own childhood and adulthood struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder through home movies, animation and live action footage.

“Sugarless Tea,” a short film about an Indian man’s attempt to find his identical twin after 54 years of separation, was made by three Texans and a Brooklyn-based comedian. Dallas-based filmmaker Sai Selvarajan wrote and directed the film, made up of watercolor stop motion still images created by his wife, Amanda Selvarajan. The short premiered at the Austin Film Society SXSW ShortCase earlier this year.

Championing independent filmmakers, the Webby Award-nominated PBS Online Film Festival includes a mix of documentary and narrative shorts sponsored by PBS local member stations, POV and public television producers including the Center for Asian American Media and Latino Public Broadcasting. You can vote online once every day from now until July 17 for your favorite film.